When and Where
The event starts on Friday, May 21, 2027, at 9:00 AM. We will be waiting for you at the finish line until Sunday afternoon, May 23. It starts and ends at the same location in the village of Český Jiřetín.
Event Format
The event is organized as a bikepacking social ride under full traffic conditions. Participants ride unsupported and at their own risk.
Route
Length: 322 km
Elevation gain: 6,068 m
Recommended bike: Gravel (tires 45+ mm) or MTB hardtail
Why
“I’m just riding,” the person answered absently, “for pleasure. You often find beautiful places that way. You ride so far that you stop thinking about anything, and suddenly you’re in a place like that—it’s a stream or a spring in a grove, or children, something unexpected and beautiful—and then, surprised, you understand what happiness is.”
Karel Čapek
About me
My name is Robert Hejkal, and people call me Bob. I’ve been riding with bags on my bike for quite a long time—in fact, it’s been almost 30 years since I first set out. I’ve been to a few places on a bike and there are definitely others I still want to see. Friends got me into it, and I love riding with friends. I also like riding alone to clear my head. We used to call it fully loaded touring (“go heavy”), and one friend came up with the term “Bikolka” for these mostly summer holiday trips. Saying “we’re going on a Bikolka” meant we were going on a fully loaded bike-touring trip. Under the handle @bikolka_cz, I spent a few years writing cycling posts on the now-defunct social network with the bird logo.
Over recent years, fully loaded bike touring has become more popular—even a sports discipline. A sport that has pushed what is now called bikepacking into the realm of remarkable athletic feats. The cyclists dedicated to this ultra-sport are among the toughest athletes in the world, and I love following their achievements. I equally enjoy reading cycling insights from exotic places where similarly brave cyclists set off on expeditions around the world.
The event I organize does not aim to compete with such rides. I would like to offer participants something shorter and simpler, where they can try out bikepacking, meet friends, and experience the positive atmosphere of this community in the Ore Mountains (Krušné hory).
The Ore Mountains are the longest mountain range in our country. They are beautiful and still somewhat deserted. I was born here. I have my own specific relationship with this landscape. It was formed in my childhood, when the hills behind our backs were invisible through the yellow socialist smog inversions, and the burning flares of chemical plants lit up the forests on their slopes with flickering light. It deepened as my friends, family, and I went on trips and did sports across the surrounding hills. This event is organized for like-minded cyclists. It is not an unsupported race, nor is it an easy afternoon ride. It is an opportunity to meet friends, experience the Ore Mountains, and test your legs a bit.
(I now write selected updates and cycling posts as @bobex.bsky.socialon the Bluesky social network.)